COMPANY NEWS

COMPANY NEWS; JUDGE ALLOWS TOP SPIEGEL EMPLOYEES TO RECEIVE BONUSES

Published: July 19, 2003

Spiegel Inc., the bankrupt owner of Eddie Bauer stores, has won a judge's permission to give 225 top employees as much as $26.4 million in bonus payments, including $8.6 million for the chief executives of its main units. Eddie Bauer's chief executive, Fabian Mansson, and the chief executive of Spiegel's catalog unit, Geralynn Madonna, will also receive more than $3.1 million in severance if they are fired without cause or Spiegel is liquidated. Judge Cornelius Blackshear of United States Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan approved the plan on Tuesday, court papers show. ''This is common practice in bankruptcy and we think it's an important step as we move forward in our reorganization,'' said Debbie Koopman, a company spokeswoman. Spiegel sought Chapter 11 protection in March.